[Objective] This paper analyzes the impacts of health informtion readability on users’ cognitive load and information processing. [Methods] We created two sets of health education webpages with high and low readability as experimental materials for the eye tracking tests. Then, we explored the mediating effects of cognitive load and the moderating effects of gender and task complexity. [Results] We found that readability posed significant impacts on saccade distance, as well as the total fixation duration and counts. Readability also significantly influenced the total duration of completed tasks and the accuracy of search results. Task complexity moderated the influence of readability on the time of first fixation. [Limitations] We did not consider the subjective factors of readability and the participants were mainly college students. A self-report method should be included in future studies. [Conclusions] This study promotes user information behavior research to the level of information processing. Improving readability visually could reduce users’ cognitive load, promote utilization efficiency of information, and optimize user searching experience.
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